Chapter 50 No Way

"Well..." Nian Tu opened her mouth, somewhat at a loss for what to say.

One billion star coins. Before her trans-dimensional journey, this would have been an unimaginably vast fortune—an amount she could never hope to touch in a lifetime of hard work. But for her present self, it was actually not entirely out of reach.

Her account held massive amounts of tips from her fans. She had not bothered to count how many zeros there were, but the sum likely far exceeded this figure.

"You don't need to give me any compensation," she said sincerely to the aristocratic male.

Putting aside the fact that she was now a minor heiress, even if she were still a pauper, she would not greedily demand exorbitant compensation.

From her perspective, the Empire's system of compulsory matching was thoroughly unreasonable. For two people meeting for the very first time to be registered and destined to live together afterwards was far too rash.

Even blind dates on Earth carried a high probability of failure; there was no logical reason why anyone in the interstellar era should be forced to submit to a match. When two people were dissatisfied with each other, refusing the match was a matter of course. The other party had done her no wrong, so she did not require any compensation.

The aristocratic male, however, did not believe Nian Tu could be so easygoing. He stared at her suspiciously for a moment. "Do you want real estate? A villa? An estate?"

"Or perhaps a jewelry mine? Commercial property? A planet?"

He was convinced that Nian Tu must have an ulterior motive.

Or else... Nian Tu had taken a fancy to him, and rather than wanting material compensation, she was determined to stay with him.

At this thought, the aristocratic male could not help straightening his posture, feeling that the situation was somewhat tricky.

"...I can keep you company in a romantic relationship until you grow tired of me," he deliberated for a long moment, making a concession.

Setting aside her mental power deficiency, Nian Tu was a remarkably beautiful female, and being in a relationship with her would undoubtedly be a pleasant experience.

He was willing to dedicate some of his time, energy, and even his body to her.

The only thing he would not do was bind himself to her as a lifelong partner.

Nian Tu perplexedly touched the tip of her nose.

She failed to keep up with the aristocratic male's train of thought.

How on earth had the conversation veered into dating?

Moreover, judging by his conflicted tone, one would think she was desperately eager to date him.

Seeing that Nian Tu remained silent for a long time, the aristocratic male continued, "After our romantic relationship ends, I will also transfer one billion star coins to your account as a breakup fee."

With both money and the man secured, she surely couldn't find anything to be dissatisfied with this time, could she?

Nian Tu: "..."

Speechless, she gave a soft cough, trying to look as sincere as possible. "I have no intention of forcing you into a relationship with me, nor do I require your financial compensation."

"We can go to the municipal hall right now and apply to dissolve the match, with no conditions attached."

While speaking, she stood up, scanned her pupil to settle the bill first, and strode toward the exit.

It took the aristocratic male a beat to snap out of his daze, and he hurried to chase after her. "Are you angry?"

"It's not that I don't like you, it's that my family won't allow it..."

All the way to the municipal hall, the aristocratic male rattled on, defending the reasons why he could not marry her.

Nian Tu found him utterly vexing and deeply regretted taking the same airship with him.

Had she known it would come to this, she might as well have taken public transit.

Once this whole ordeal was over, she would just take the pilot's license test herself and buy her own airship to fly.

Suppressing her exasperation, Nian Tu rushed into the municipal hall the moment they arrived, hurried straight to the staff member on duty, and announced, "I want to apply to dissolve my match!"

"Uh, certainly. May I ask the reason?" The staff member looked from Nian Tu to the aristocratic male trailing behind her. "Are you dissatisfied with this male in any way?"

If the match was dissolved due to the female's dissatisfaction with the male's shortcomings, a black mark would be left on the male's record, affecting his future matching opportunities.

The aristocratic male anxiously watched Nian Tu, terrified that she would speak ill of him in a fit of anger.

This was the very reason he had been constantly trying to appease her.

Nian Tu shook her head decisively. "Nothing to be dissatisfied with."

Well, actually, there was—this male possessed a baffling sense of self-confidence and was terribly noisy. But that wasn't the primary reason for dissolving the match, and she had no penchant for bad-mouthing others, so she merely grumbled inwardly.

The aristocratic male let out a long sigh of relief.

Nian Tu explained to the staff member, "Actually, I have already found a third guardian, I just haven't had the time to complete the registration yet."

"Then when might you be able to complete the registration?"

Nian Tu stalled. "...I'm not entirely certain about that. He's currently away on an official assignment."

In Nian Tu's understanding, military commanders carrying out missions for several years at a time was completely normal.

Feli had only told her he would return after some time. That "some time" might very well be measured in years.

Nian Tu rubbed her chin in deep thought.

The staff member gazed at her expression of earnest contemplation and fell silent for a moment.

He suspected that no such "guardianship candidate currently away on assignment" existed at all; the little female had likely fabricated the story to save face.

Judging by the respective identities of the female and male applying for match dissolution, it was far more likely that this aristocratic male was unwilling to act as the young female's guardian because of her ordinary background and lack of mental power.

The aristocratic male shared the exact same thought as the staff member, also believing that Nian Tu was making things up.

He looked at Nian Tu with complex emotions in his eyes.

What a stubbornly adorable little female.

Clearly an ordinary civilian, yet she stubbornly refused his financial compensation.

Clearly smitten with him, yet she rejected a relationship that could not lead to marriage.

Clearly without a guardian, yet she insisted on claiming she had one lined up.

Whose work could possibly be so important? To go away on an assignment and thereby postpone registering with his little female?

The aristocratic male chuckled softly and shook his head.

Unless he was one of those high-ranking, heavily influential big shots.

But a big shot would obviously never take a fancy to a civilian female devoid of mental power.

"If you cannot provide an exact registration date, I'm afraid we will have to proceed with matching you with a new guardian," the staff member said, taking care to spare Nian Tu's feelings without piercing her lie, as he quickly processed the match dissolution paperwork and prepared to initiate a new matching application for her.

Nian Tu anxiously stopped him. "Wait a minute, let me ask him when he can come back!"

While inwardly complaining that the Empire's guardianship system was entirely inhumane, she flusteredly opened her optical computer.

The gazes of both the staff member and the aristocratic male involuntarily converged on the screen of her optical computer.

Could such a male actually exist?

Surely not.

A sudden flurry of rapid footsteps echoed from the distance.

"Niannian!"

At the familiar voice, Nian Tu whipped her head around, her eyes lighting up with surprise. "Uncle Feli!"

"You're back?" She bounded eagerly toward the man, her feet leaving the ground as she was scooped up into a full embrace.

The tall male was clad in a stern military uniform, and even though he looked travel-worn, it could not conceal his commanding presence. Yet the way he embraced the little female was utterly familiar—the gentleness of an iron-willed warrior.

The entire municipal hall fell into instant silence.

The aristocratic male dropped his jaw in astonishment, staring blankly at the newcomer. "Marshal... Lord Marshal...?"